Das Gesicht Des Faschismus(The Face Of Fascism)

Appeared:

Italien Brochure Cover

July 1928

Berlin, Germany

New Face Of Fascism

By John J Heartfield

This famous portrait of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has his quote:

“I will change the face of Italy in the next 15 years so that no one will recognize it again.”

When Donald Trump spoke about excluding Muslims from entering the United States in 2015, it became clear Trump intends to change the face of American democracy so that no one will recognize it again.

When he heard of the Muslim ban, Heartfield’s grandson remixed his grandfather’s famous portrait of Benito Mussolini into the new face of fascism in America (see image below). This image of Trump went viral on social media. It was featured during the curator’s presentation in the Collage Museum at the 2016 DADA WORLD FAIR in San Francisco, sponsored by City Lights Bookstore.

John Heartfield’s original collage appeared on the front of the World World II brochure Italian in Ketten. The image reflects Heartfield’s early fascination with film. It demonstrates his ability to transform a flat space into a 3-D like image that gives the impression of motion. Heartfield’s collage is as chilling as Alfred Hitchcock’s transformation of Anthony Perkins into the death mask of his mother in the film Psycho.